Women’s golf team finishes season with two top ten finishes

By Nate Tenopir, Sports Editor

In 2012, the women’s golf team had only done as well as a ninth place finish at the IPFW Spring Classic on April 2. For most of the season, UNO finished tournaments outside the top 10.

But the Mavs saved their best for last, finishing the season with two top 10s in back-to-back tournaments. The weekend started with a fifth place finish at the Augustana Spring Invitational in Sioux Falls, S.D. and ended with a ninth place finish Tuesday at the Creighton Classic, back in Omaha.

Senior Rebecca Pollock, who has led the team all season, was UNO’s top finisher at both events. It was the third and fourth time in a row that Pollock had ended an event with the Mavs’ lowest score.

Sophomore MelyssaDoerr led the charge on Saturday, shooting a career best 72 for even par at the 5,850-yard Prairie Green Golf Course in the Augustana Spring Invitational. The sophomore finished her first 18 holes in second overall, two behind leader Sam Falk of GustavusAdolphus and two ahead of third place Samantha Bergmann of Minnesota State.

Senior Rebecca Pollock had UNO’s second lowest score a 78, and junior Elizabeth Havekost was just a shot back with a 79. Pollock’s first round had her in a tie for 11th overall, and Havekost was tied for 17th.

Sophomore Brooke Thilges, the Mavs final golfer of the tournament, put up a first round 80, good enough to be in a tie for 20th. UNO’s first-round team score of 309 had the Mavs in a tie for second place with Minnesota State.

The two teams, both nicknamed the Mavericks, were seven behind first place Augustana and one ahead of GustavusAdolphus. But neither team could repeat their scores from Saturday and dropped a few spots.

UNO ended the tournament with a 320 on Sunday, finishing with a 639 team score and fifth place. Sunday, Pollock led the way with a team-best 76.

Her final score of 154 was 10 over par and gave Pollock sole possession of 11th place in the 69-player event. Doerr dropped 13 shots from the previous day and shot an 85 to finish tied for 14th.

Thilges followed up her 80 on Saturday with another on Sunday, and Havekost shot a final round 89.

Thilges finished the tournament in a tie for 19th while Havekost’s 168 was good enough for a tie for 36th. Emily Kvidera, of host Augustana, won the event with four over 148.

Teammate Maggie Leland and Bergmann finished one shot back at 149. Leland and Kvidera were also a part of the winning team.

Augustana took first place with a team score of 600, 24 over par. GustavusAdolphus was a distant second, 20 shots back.

On Monday, Pollock started the Creighton Classic as the top UNO golfer and kept that position when the tournament ended on Tuesday. Pollock was an eight over 80 in the first round, putting her in a tie for seventh.

Havekost and junior Danielle Kuchar had 90s for 52nd overall, and Thilges put up a 92 while Doerr finished with a 98. The Mavs first round team score of 352 put UNO in 11th among 14 teams in the first round.

Northern Iowa led day one with a 307 and Southern Illinois was second with a 324. Northern Iowa also had the top individual golfer after the first round.

Brittany Atterbury shot an even par 72 to lead North Dakota State’s Amy Anderson by two shots. In Tuesday’s second round it was Doerr’s 14-shot improvement that helped UNO improve from 11th to ninth.

Doerr ended Tuesday with an 84 and finished with the Mavs’ third-best score, a 182. Doerr’s strong round two moved her from 75th place to a 62nd place finish.

Pollock ended the tournament in sixth, shooting one shot better, a 79 on Tuesday. Havekost improved her score by two, shooting a second round 88 to finish tied for 49th.

Thilges matched her first round 92 with another 92 on Tuesday and Kuchar shot a second round 104. UNO’s second round 343 was nine shots better than the first round.

Northern Iowa followed up their win at Augustana with another at Creighton. The Panthers went from a first round 307 to a second round 328, but did enough to finish one shot ahead of second place Southern Illinois.

North Dakota State’s Anderson went from a first round 74 to a second round 75, but had a tournament-best 149 to finish first. Atterbury, in first after the first round, went from a 72 to an 83, dropping down to fourth.

Blair Bonner of Northern Iowa finished second, five shots back of Anderson with a 154.